Tuesday, April 19, 2011

As happens each spring, Aims searches out snow. These are no ordinary searches, like within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. No, Aims searches far and wide. These are from the Adirondacks where he went after he and Wes skiied Prospect on Saturday. Aims gets more hours of skiing in in April than I do in March!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Yesterday Wes and Aims skied once more at Prospect. Saturday was Prospect's last day. They were still grooming but were down to about 8km of trails and they were getting dirty, although it stayed cold all day. Wes reports that he skied over 70km and over 5 hours!!

Monday, April 11, 2011

At the end-of-season party, the CSU juniors held an energy bar competition. A panel of distinguished judges tasted all the bars, and ranked them based on taste, nutrition, and presentation/packageability. There were some really neat entries, and some really creative names. There were also some really delicious bars, as well as some that tasted like energy bars.

Some of the recipes are below... not everyone has sent me the recipes, but once I nag them some more, we should have all six winning recipes on the blog. Who will be the first to test out some of these bars on a long rollerski??

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Today the CSU Jr relay team for the Run of the Charles canoe race, taking place on 4/30/11, got together for a little canoe practice. It was a beautiful day to get out on the water and practice going straight in a boat. Wes Denering and I provided a bit of instruction and as you might expect, it didn't take long for everyone to get the hang of paddling. Not a whole lot different than double poling!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

A collection of CSU Masters and CSU Juniors, including Wes, Larry, Scott, Jamie, Rob, Hannah, Tom, Chris, Anne, Nick, Calvin, Rion, Katrin and Jim Stock and Jim O'Grady headed to Waterville Valley today for the last ski of the season. We were preceeded by Jim Stock with his group of BKSLers. More than half the cars in the lot were from Massachusetts and probably nearly all CSU and BKSL! With a bluebird sky and a bright springtime sun the rock hard icy tracks started to give way to something a bit softer and slushier as the morning progressed. With the wind it wasn't real warm, but warm enough for a relaxing ski. There is a lot of snow in the woods up high so there is perhaps more skiing to be had if you want to work for it next week, but I'm done. We did Livermore Rd to the top of Snow's, Cascade Brook, some back and forth and then I was so bonked I had to eat my lunch. Then the juniors skied Tripoli Rd while Anne Burnham and I, both exhausted from fighting off colds skied Wicked Easy and Moose Run, trying not to fall on our face everytime we went from shade to sun. The fat lady has sung and the ski box is off the car.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Terry McNatt and I have been doing a little work on the side as ski reporters.
We are the first to break this exciting story.

Rob

In a surprise move late last night the bitterly partisan U.S. Congress unanimously voted immediate American citizenship for Norwegian superstar Petter Northug. Later today in a Rose Garden ceremony President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. "When I declared Nordic skiing to be the new national pastime two years ago I was scoffed at. But with the threat of a lockout in football, the continuing steroid scandal in baseball, and my own basketball injury requiring 12 stitches, a lot of folks have joined my vision of our country uniting around a clean, healthy, and most importantly, a lifelong sport".

Most observers expected Northug to reject the offer of citizenship, but at a raucous news conference in Oslo this morning he welcomed it enthusiastically.

"I'm still angry about not being selected for the Olympic team for Torino. I've had it with the Norwegian Ski Federation and Norway in general. I’ve labored through enough sunless winters and lutefisk dinners to last me a lifetime.

Besides, I hear that USSA is the best ski federation in the world. A really top-notch organization." After an expletive-filled rant about the many serious problems with Norwegian ski racing, Northug brightened when asked about how he'll fit in on the American team. "I can't wait to do the team sprint with Newell. That guy rocks. Have you seen his films? I'll put him in the right spot and he'll crush that Harvey guy. No way I want to be humiliated by losing to Canadians in their goofy tukes again. That's the absolute worst.". Northug also felt that the Americans can help him reach a new level. "Look, there's just no challenge left for me racing in Norway. The sprint semifinal was like attending a children's race. Heck, I stopped for a pee in the national 50k and still won easily. If I'm racing Freeman he won't let me get away with that. If I fall down and start crying again he'll kick my butt and tell me to get up and quit skiing like a girlyman! Nordic skiing isn’t figure skating. There’s no “kiss and cry cubbie” and you don't see Kris sniffling on his coach’s shoulder when he has a bad day."

When asked if he knew any of the women on the U.S. team, Northug visibly reddened and spoke haltingly, “When I first saw Lindsay Vonn in Sport’s Illustrated I knew someday my future in skiing lay in America. Also, do you know if Jessie Diggins is going out with anyone? Would she, you know, hang out with me? When I saw her at Worlds I almost skied into a tree. What a hottie!”

As for what part of the country he will reside in, Northug seemed unsure.

“Newell said I could ski with the Stratton kids for the summer, and Lars Flora told me that APU glacier skiing is the best, but of course CXC has those great summer camps. Maybe I’ll just go to Vegas and roll the dice.”